Confused over diagnosis

Status
Not open for further replies.
C

Cracklinrosie

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi all, about 3 weeks ago I was put on blood pressure tablets as it was slightly high, in the meantime I had a blood test and after receiving the results the doctor rung me and took me off the blood pressure tablets and told me I had diabetes which was a shock. He told me I have a month to lose weight and get my sugars down before he prescribes tablets. In the meantime I'm worried I've had diabetes for a while as I haven't been myself, tired and constant night loo visits, I am approx 2 stone overweight.
Yes I've started the Mediterranean diet and been a good girl but boy I feel absolutely drained all the time, is this normal? Not sure what to do, doctor wasn't much help as I know nothing about diabetes
 
Cracklinrosie said:
Hi all, about 3 weeks ago I was put on blood pressure tablets as it was slightly high, in the meantime I had a blood test and after receiving the results the doctor rung me and took me off the blood pressure tablets and told me I had diabetes which was a shock. He told me I have a month to lose weight and get my sugars down before he prescribes tablets. In the meantime I'm worried I've had diabetes for a while as I haven't been myself, tired and constant night loo visits, I am approx 2 stone overweight.
Yes I've started the Mediterranean diet and been a good girl but boy I feel absolutely drained all the time, is this normal? Not sure what to do, doctor wasn't much help as I know nothing about diabetes
Click to expand...
When you write 'the' Mediterranean diet - can you be clearer what do you mean by it - as it seems to be very variable.
As long as it isn't lots of pasta and pizza it can be healthy, but for many type two diabetics their inability to cope with a high carb intake means that something more like Atkins would be more suitable, stopping the raised blood glucose levels, and all the associated symptoms.
 
Drummer said:
When you write 'the' Mediterranean diet - can you be clearer what do you mean by it - as it seems to be very variable.
As long as it isn't lots of pasta and pizza it can be healthy, but for many type two diabetics their inability to cope with a high carb intake means that something more like Atkins would be more suitable, stopping the raised blood glucose levels, and all the associated symptoms.
Click to expand...
Oh no its a book I bought online, an 8 week diet to lower blood sugar and he says the diet is known as the medditeranean diet, no pasta or rice or bread etc only 800 cals a day, lots of fish and veg. Specifically for diabetics.
 
Cracklinrosie said:
Hi all, about 3 weeks ago I was put on blood pressure tablets as it was slightly high, in the meantime I had a blood test and after receiving the results the doctor rung me and took me off the blood pressure tablets and told me I had diabetes which was a shock. He told me I have a month to lose weight and get my sugars down before he prescribes tablets. In the meantime I'm worried I've had diabetes for a while as I haven't been myself, tired and constant night loo visits, I am approx 2 stone overweight.
Yes I've started the Mediterranean diet and been a good girl but boy I feel absolutely drained all the time, is this normal? Not sure what to do, doctor wasn't much help as I know nothing about diabetes
Click to expand...
Yes you might have had it for a while or at least Insulin Resistance. It's often said that T2s have had it developing for between 5 and 10 years before diagnosis. Strange the Doc took you off bp meds. high BP and T2 go together and bp is usually aggressively managed in diabetes. Did the Doc tell you what your HbA1c was ( the long term measure of blood glucose). At least your Doc did one good thing, he gave you time on diet and exercise before meds. You should also consider getting a meter and test strips to self test your bgs. Ignore the Doc if he says you don't need to test.
 
Burylancs said:
Yes you might have had it for a while or at least Insulin Resistance. It's often said that T2s have had it developing for between 5 and 10 years before diagnosis. Strange the Doc took you off bp meds. high BP and T2 go together and bp is usually aggressively managed in diabetes. Did the Doc tell you what your HbA1c was ( the long term measure of blood glucose). At least your Doc did one good thing, he gave you time on diet and exercise before meds. You should also consider getting a meter and test strips to self test your bgs. Ignore the Doc if he says you don't need to test.
Click to expand...
Hi, no he didn't give me any measures, it was all done over the phone which is why I guess I was left confused about it all. I got one of those strip test things this week from amazon and it was 10. 1 this morning I'm not sure how often I should record it but will write all down for the doctor. If I've had it a while can I still beat it?
 
Cracklinrosie said:
Hi, no he didn't give me any measures, it was all done over the phone which is why I guess I was left confused about it all. I got one of those strip test things this week from amazon and it was 10. 1 this morning I'm not sure how often I should record it but will write all down for the doctor. If I've had it a while can I still beat it?
Click to expand...
No you can't beat it, you have to join it and take control of it. Testing times are Fasting and two hours after a meal. The usual targets are under 6 fasting and under 8.5 two hours after a meal. Testing will tell you how you react to carbs and more importantly what Portion size you can tolerate of them without ballooning your blood glucose. You Doc is unlikely to be interested in your bg testing. All they want to go by is the HbA1c, you should definitely ask them what it was as a baseline measure to gauge progress against.
 
Burylancs said:
No you can't beat it, you have to join it and take control of it. Testing times are Fasting and two hours after a meal. The usual targets are under 6 fasting and under 8.5 two hours after a meal. Testing will tell you how you react to carbs and more importantly what Portion size you can tolerate of them without ballooning your blood glucose. You Doc is unlikely to be interested in your bg testing. All they want to go by is the HbA1c, you should definitely ask them what it was as a baseline measure to gauge progress against.
Click to expand...
 
Now I'm confused! I will ask him for it and I guess as mine was 10.1 after fasting it's not good. I'll try and fight back!
 
Cracklinrosie said:
Oh no its a book I bought online, an 8 week diet to lower blood sugar and he says the diet is known as the medditeranean diet, no pasta or rice or bread etc only 800 cals a day, lots of fish and veg. Specifically for diabetics.
Click to expand...
Ah, I see - though with the calorie restriction it is chasing swift alteration in body composition in the belief that diabetes is caused by fat in the body. No wonder you feel totally drained - I'd be flat out and fainting on 800 calories a day - too many low calorie diets in my lifetime so my metabolism goes into meltdown as soon as it detects restriction.
I take the easy route of eating low carb and keeping my blood glucose levels in the normal range that way - it might be something to consider once you get to the end of the 8 weeks. I hope the meter you got has strips which are not overly expensive. The usual way to check how food affects you is to check two hours after starting to eat. That gives a good indication of how you are coping with the food and how they affect you too.
When starting off checking just before starting to eat is done as well, as a rise of several numbers indicates too high a carb intake - usually when starting out 3 whole numbers is advised, then dropping gradually to no more than 2 whole numbers.
Of course you might find that your strict diet resolves everything and your numbers are normal again at the end of the eight weeks.
 
Drummer said:
Ah, I see - though with the calorie restriction it is chasing swift alteration in body composition in the belief that diabetes is caused by fat in the body. No wonder you feel totally drained - I'd be flat out and fainting on 800 calories a day - too many low calorie diets in my lifetime so my metabolism goes into meltdown as soon as it detects restriction.
I take the easy route of eating low carb and keeping my blood glucose levels in the normal range that way - it might be something to consider once you get to the end of the 8 weeks. I hope the meter you got has strips which are not overly expensive. The usual way to check how food affects you is to check two hours after starting to eat. That gives a good indication of how you are coping with the food and how they affect you too.
When starting off checking just before starting to eat is done as well, as a rise of several numbers indicates too high a carb intake - usually when starting out 3 whole numbers is advised, then dropping gradually to no more than 2 whole numbers.
Of course you might find that your strict diet resolves everything and your numbers are normal again at the end of the eight weeks.
Click to expand...
Thank you
 
Cracklinrosie said:
I have just done a blood strip test 2 hours after eating and it says 3.6, yet it was 10.01 this morning when I woke up, so it was too high this morning and too low tonight ?
Click to expand...
Yup. You don't want it below 4. What did you eat to produce the 3.6 ?
Your morning reading might be affected by something called the Dawn Phenomenon dawn phenomenon
The 3.6 might be Reactive Hypoglycemia - a heavy carb meal, a big glucose load, the pancreas reacts with a pile of insulin. It's a feature of early days T2.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top